Appeals Court Again Denies Bid to Save DOL Fiduciary Rule

On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit denied a request from three state attorneys general to reconsider its refusal to let them intervene in a lawsuit challenging the rule, which the attorneys general had made in a bid to save the Obama-era regulation, ThinkAdvisor writes.

In April, state attorneys general from California, New York and Oregon asked the Fifth Circuit to allow them to intervene in the lawsuit. That was a last-minute attempt to save the rule that required retirement account advisors to put clients’ interests first and went into partial effect last summer before being vacated by the Fifth Circuit in March.

The DOL said earlier this month that it would not be enforcing the parts of the rule that are already in effect.

In early May, the Fifth Circuit denied the motion by the state AGs but last week the attorneys general asked the court to reconsider its refusal. On Tuesday the Fifth Circuit said it “considered the motion for reconsideration” and opted to deny it, according to ThinkAdvisor.

But the Fifth Circuit Court was expected to issue a mandate vacating the rule May 7 and has yet to do so, says ThinkAdvisor. Legal experts tell the publication that until this happens, the rule is technically still in effect.